Chapter 3: Minos' Trap
"I think it's All Might in the trophy room with…." Everyone leaned forward as Izuku studied the small slip of paper in front of him. "Midnight's whip," he finished. He turned to Uraraka, who was sitting to his left in the small circle of students that he no longer found himself able to refer to by their given names.
Uraraka looked at her own sheet of paper before shuffling through her cards and offering a shrug when she had nothing to show him. Next in the circle was Asui, who clicked her tongue and gave a slight shake of her head. Izuku's hope rose- there was only one section that he needed confirmed before he could make his final accusation. Iida was next to confirm that he didn't have any of the cards and, finally, Izuku turned to Shouto. The boy simply shrugged and Izuku cheered.
"I do not understand!" Iida called out, chopping an arm through the air. "I have one of the guesses marked off, how can no one have it?"
"Iida," Izuku said, giggling. "I showed that card to you." Iida's face only grew with confusion, causing Izuku to giggle more.
"New objective!" Uraraka called out, slapping her hand on the ground next to her. Izuku couldn't help the flinch away from her hand, but he noticed that he wasn't the only one surprised by the outburst, and Shouto put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Keep Deku away from the center at all costs!"
Izuku flinched again at the dumb nickname. Regardless, he quickly schooled his features into the Hero Deku mask that he wore at UA and rubbed the back of his neck. "If you're too busy stopping me, how will you find the clues?" He asked.
"You have a point, but it would be counterintuitive to just let you win, kero," Tsuyu pointed out.
Izuku sighed as the round continued, his pawn moving across the board as his friends tried to figure out the weapon.
Just as Shouto rolled the dice, Denki grabbed everyone's attention by jumping up from the couch. "Everyone!" He cried, a note of worry in his tone. "Look," he exclaimed, pointing at the TV.
Izuku's group had been playing Clue in front of the TV, so they spun in their spots to watch as everyone that was downstairs walked over to see what was going on. The mood of the room quickly dampened given the bright lettering of "Emergency Broadcast" scrolling on the bottom of the screen before the newscaster began speaking.
"It's with great regret that we inform the students, staff, and faculty of UA, as well as the general population of Musutafu, that we have been made aware of a traitor residing within the school," a Commission member explained, their name and job title on a little card next to their face. "We are offering an award…"
Izuku stared at the screen in shock, terrified of the implications from the Commission. He tuned out the rest of the broadcast and barely processed any of the conversation happening around him as he watched the Commission member gesture to a photo of UA before pulling up pictures from the attacks his class had faced.
"A traitor?" Shouto asked, scooting a bit closer to Izuku.
"They're saying there's a traitor selling us out to the League of Villains," Sero muttered.
"Who would do such a thing?" Hagakure asked, clearly horrified.
"It's probably Deku," Mineta muttered, several of the class obviously agreeing as they shot him wary looks.
Izuku's thoughts began to spiral. Who could be the traitor? A student? He really didn't think it could be anyone in his class, but he also thought Kacchan was his best friend when they were little and was getting bullied. Granted they were friends again, but that was besides the point. A teacher? That really wouldn't make sense given the punishments Nedzu would give them once they were revealed. A parent? Maybe a parent of one of the students Aizawa's expelled in the past? Why did they learn from the Commission on the news instead of the school? No, they were probably just trying to keep it on the low and find out discreetly. The Commission probably just fucked everything up. Izuku should put more effort in finding them if only to get the suspicion off of him.
"Nerd, let's go," Kacchan growled, hoisting him up from where he'd been sitting.
Izuku looked around to notice that those he'd finally convinced to sit and play a game with him had moved away and were huddled together, except for Shouto who was now standing next to him. Izuku sighed and nodded as they moved up to Kacchan's dorm room, Shinsou joining them.
"Everyone in the class are damn right idiots," Shinsou huffed.
"The fact that they still think it's you is preposterous," Shouto agreed, slumping onto Kacchan's bed next to Izuku. Shinsou sat on his other side and Kacchan took the desk chair in front of them. These were their typical placements when they came to Kacchan's room to talk or hang out, though every once in a while they could convince Kacchan to join them on the bed. Then again, that was really only when they were watching a movie.
"If anyone does anything, I'm going to blast them until they don't wake up," Kacchan huffed.
Izuku snapped out of his thoughts at that. He could taste copper in his mouth, he must have bitten his tongue. "Kacchan, you can't kill anyone. You won't be able to become a hero."
"I'm pretty sure we would all give up heroics if anything happened to you, Izuku," Shouto admitted.
"I was guaranteed a life of villainy anyways," Shinsou agreed with a shrug.
"Aizawa would kill you if you turned to villainy," Izuku countered.
"Aizawa would probably join me," Shinsou said, arching an eyebrow.
Izuku sighed and brought his hand up to his chin. "I just need to find a way to convince everyone that I'm not the traitor. I mean, they're just suspicious of me because… my quirk!"
All three of them jumped as he shouted the last part and looked at him in surprise.
"You gotta give us your thoughts if you expect us to follow, nerd," Kacchan huffed.
"Hitoshi, brainwash me," Izuku demanded, turning to Shinsou again.
"It's Hitoshi now?" Hitoshi asked with a smirk.
"Shut up and brai-"
Izuku's vision swam in blackness for a few seconds before the vestiges appeared before him. They were on some platform where each vestige had a chair, including him. He scanned the room and noted that each vestige was clear in image besides one. They were also all looking at him in surprise. He went to open his mouth but found it covered once more, though this time at least his hands were free. Izuku glared down at his body before looking around the room again wondering how he could communicate with them all.
"Looks like he still isn't able to talk to us," a woman with a high ponytail said, looking towards who Izuku knew to be the First, Shigaraki Yoichi.
Izuku glared at the woman. He raised his hands and used JSL to sign, 'way to state the obvious.'
"Oh, he knows sign language," one of the men sitting next to First said, laughing as he understood Izuku's signing.
'Thank Kami,' Izuku signed, addressing the man. 'Can you have everyone introduce themselves? I only know First and Fifth.'
The man nodded and turned to the group as a whole. "He wants us to introduce ourselves."
"Well then," Yoichi said with a soft smile towards Izuku. "Let's go in order of number, shall we? As you know, I'm First, Shigaraki Yoichi. My quirk was solely Transference, but then my brother gave me Stockpiling which combined and became One for All."
Izuku nodded and turned to the man that was able to understand JSL. "I'm Second. My quirk was Transmission. It could also be referred to as Shifting Speed. It essentially controls the speed of its target."
Izuku's eyes widened and he raised his hands to sign questions about the quirk, but the next person was already speaking. "I'm Third. My quirk was Fa Jin. It allows you to build up kinetic energy by making repetitive motions which can help you in speed and power depending on how you decide to release the kinetic energy."
"Shinomori Hikage- Fourth, whatever ya wanna call me. Actually, don't. My quirk was Danger Sense, think of it as Super Anxiety," the next person explained before looking to the side, obviously not wanting to contribute any more information.
Fifth scoffed. "Ignore him, he's a massive introvert. We met already, obviously. I'm Fifth- Daigoro Banjo. We discussed my quirk, but I'll give another synopsis since everyone else is. Black Whip: you produce black energy tendrils to use essentially however you want so long as you can control them properly."
"Do I have to?" Sixth asked, hiding his face further in his jacket collar.
"Yes," Yoichi sighed, Second rolling his eyes beside him.
"Fine," Sixth said, revealing their face fully. "I'm En- Sixth. My quirk was Smokescreen and it's essentially exactly as it sounds like, just like Hikage and Banjo's. You'll be able to generate a thick cloud of smoke from your body and with practice, the area it covers will grow."
"And I'm Shimura Nana," Seventh said. "My quirk was Float. With it, you'll be able to levitate and suspend yourself in the air."
Izuku nodded as he turned back to Second, bypassing Eighth as he knew All Might and his quirkless status previous to One for All. 'Can you all see what's happening outside?'
"By outside do you mean like… I don't know, your world? Present time?" Second asked.
Izuku nodded as Yoichi asked, "What's the question?"
"He wants to know if we can see 'outside' through him," Second explained.
"Ah, it's a bit of a yes and a no answer," Yoichi explained. "We can see only when we attempt to. We respect your privacy of course and stick mostly to sitting around here, but things get very boring when you've been trapped inside a quirk for nearly 200 years."
Izuku nodded at the explanation. 'So, you know I manifested Black Whip, but do you know what's been happening with my classmates?'
Second winced, giving Izuku all the answers he needed. "Yeah, we know what your classmates are thinking, kid."
Izuku huffed, or tried to at least. 'So you know that my classmates all think that I'm a traitor and am receiving quirks from All for One?'
"For the love of Kami, can you please just translate?" Banjo asked.
Second sighed and repeated back what Izuku had signed.
Nana shook her head two seats down from Izuku. "I agree with your friends' statements about your classmates being idiots." She grimaced as she spoke her next thought, "but then again, they don't know the nature of your quirk so it is a plausible theory."
Izuku glared at the woman. 'So is that all? You all know, and yet I'll be gaining 5 more quirks? Is there nothing any of you could do?' Second continued to translate as he signed angrily at them.
"Sorry, kiddo," Banjo said with sympathy in his eyes. "We're essentially just ghosts. No matter how much we want to help, there's really nothing we can do."
Izuku deflated. This whole conversation was useless besides finally learning all of their names and what quirks he'd be manifesting at some point or another. He went to stand and mentally groaned as he found himself unable to. Done with his quirk and the ridiculous factors that bound him, he surged 10% of One for All, lighting up the area they all sat in and briefly wiping away the smoke that held him captive and mute. "Fucking finally," Izuku cursed before walking behind his chair to the edge of the platform.
"Kid-"
"How did he-"
"What are you doing?"
"Oi!"
Izuku ignored the shouts of alarm and concern as he turned back to the vestiges and gave them a mock salute before letting himself fall backwards into the smoke that surrounded the platform.
Blackness once again consumed his vision for a few seconds before his eyes snapped open and he found himself back in Kacchan's room, his friends worriedly hovering around him.
"Dude, you activated your quirk. How the fuck do you keep doing that?" Hitoshi asked.
"Ugh, stupid ghosts," Izuku groaned, rubbing his temple as shouts began to ring out in his head.
"That was ridiculously dangerous!" Banjo shouted.
"You couldn't have known that you would wake up that way!" Nana agreed.
"I swear he's got a death wish," Third muttered, though Izuku could barely hear it as Yoichi burst out in laughter.
"This kid is a damn right genius! Like, we already knew that, but seriously!" Yoichi cackled. "Not only did he find a way to force himself here, he also found a way to force himself out!"
"Yeah, whatever. Now I'm going to have to listen to you all at all times. Kindly shut the fuck up," Izuku commanded, speaking aloud and startling his friends by cussing.
"Damn, Izu," Kacchan chuckled. "What would Auntie say if she heard you saying that type of foul language?"
Izuku raised an eyebrow at his childhood friend. "I grew up with you and the rest of the Bakugou's. She expects nothing less, not to mention how often she curses herself."
Shouto snorted at that before quickly covering his mouth and nose with his hand.
"So," Hitoshi said. "Back on track. I'm Hitoshi now apparently. You made me brainwash you. You activated your quirk while brainwashed and successfully escaped the brainwashing without injuring yourself. I would like an explanation."
Izuku nodded. "Fair enough. Firstly, you know way too much about me to still be on a family name level. Therefore, you're Hitoshi and I'm Izuku."
Hitoshi shrugged. "Sure. Next?"
"I was thinking that if I could talk to the vestiges- the past users of One for All- then I might be able to get some help figuring out how to convince everyone that I'm not the traitor," Izuku explained.
"And how did that go?" Shouto asked, tilting his head.
Izuku threw his hands in the air with a groan. "Horribly! The vestiges were essentially useless!"
"Hey!" Banjo shouted.
"Shut it," Izuku hissed before turning back to his friends who seemed confused by the sudden interruption. "The only thing I really learned was everyone's names, or what number they were, and what their quirks were."
"What numbers they were?" Kacchan asked. "Do they seriously refer to themselves as the number in which they inherited One for All?"
"Yup," Izuku said. "Second and Third didn't give me a name, but everyone else did. I had them all go around and give introductions."
"I thought you said you couldn't talk last time you saw the vestiges?" Hitoshi asked.
"My hands were free this time so I was able to communicate with Second by using JSL. He was the only one that understood, but he translated for everyone else," Izuku explained.
"Since when do you know JSL?" Kacchan asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Since you started losing your hearing to your quirk," Izuku replied, raising an eyebrow at the explosive boy.
Kacchan scoffed. "I'm not losing my hearing."
Izuku blinked slowly at him. "Wanna try again?"
Kacchan glared at him. "Whatever, fuck you, nerd. Why and how did you activate your quirk?"
Izuku smirked at him before raising a hand and activating One for All at a low percentage so they could see the green lightning wrapping around his hand. "When I go under Brainwashing, I get thrown into the area where the vestiges reside. Or, at least, that's what's happened the past two times. Last time, Fifth said the time was running out and when he disappeared, I came back to see Uraraka slapping me. This time, I wasn't able to move and I got frustrated with the vestiges and wanted to leave. I activated One for All and cleared away the smoke-mist-fog-whatever that held me captive and I was able to leave."
"Huh," Hitoshi said. "That must be why it feels so different when I grab your mind. It's like you're there, but you're not at the same time. Like I'm only holding onto a thread of a blanket."
Izuku shrugged. "It's probably because I go inside of my own quirk when you brainwash me. I don't know why it happens, but now I won't need you to brainwash me every time I need to talk to the vestiges given they can talk to me essentially whenever they want to."
"Okay, enough ghost talk," Kacchan declared. "Let's watch a movie or some shit."
"Can we watch another movie from that one director?" Shouto asked.
"Miyazaki? I think there's still a couple that we haven't watched," Hitoshi said as Kacchan grabbed his laptop and squeezed between Shinsou and Izuku.
"How about Laputa?" Izuku asked. "We haven't seen that one together yet."
Hitoshi nodded. "That's a really good one."
"Whatever you want nerd," Kacchan said, signing into his parents' streaming service and pulling up the movie.
Shouto reached into the bedside table and grabbed the snacks that Kacchan had hoarded there for their movie marathons, passing them along the bed. They all settled down together before Kacchan placed the laptop on the desk chair and turned on the subtitles before pressing play on the movie.